SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA -- This is the worst place I have ever dealt with for online purchases. They have good prices and so that lures you to buy from them. I guess if you get your product without damage, then the review may be different and you could count yourself lucky. But if you have to have further dealings with them through their so-called customer service...all I can say is good luck and be prepared to dispute with them through your credit card because they will not help you at all.

I purchased a home bar from them. A beautiful piece of furniture made by Powell. I ordered it on December 17, 2012. They took my money (over $ 1000.00) immediately upon placing the order. I didn't get any tracking information for at least three weeks even though it said ships in 3-4 days. Then finally when it arrived in this area, I was told I had to be home to sign for the furniture either on a Tues or a Thursday to sign for it.

I asked could they leave the piece in our garage because if they had to deliver after 6 pm, they would have to charge me an additional $100.00 and one of the reason I purchased from them was for the free ship deal. They said they would contact the shipper and allow them to leave it without signature in the garage. They never did and the shipper tried to deliver it when we we not there. Then we tried again but the shipper kept telling me they never got any communication from them so they could not leave it.

After getting sick of the back and forth, I decided just to take a day off just to receive the furniture. I did. The piece was shipped and received. When we unpacked the bar, it was damaged. I took pictures and contacted Mercantila. They said if I kept the item as is they would give me a 20 percent discount. It was not enough to get the damage fixed so I asked them to replace the item. Then they said they would give me a 35 percent discount if I would accept the item as is. Clearly they did not want to give me a replacement despite their guarantee listed on their website.

Now mind you, this communication took at least 6 weeks back and forth. Why? I certainly cannot tell you. They try to ignore your communications through email so you have to keep dogging them. I have spent hours upon hours trying to get things straightened out but it's useless. They are polite but then they just never follow through on ANYTHING they say.

Last I heard, now 1 month ago is that the credit request was put into their billing department for partial refund and I would get an email when that was done. Really? So now 1 month later, still no refund and I have to now dispute the whole thing with my credit card....more of my time once again. Bottom line is I would avoid this merchant like the plague.

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Buyer Beware - They Take Your Money and Don't Have the Product to Sell You!

I have to say, I am incredibly disappointed. I have called you about 5 times on this late order, each time explaining that I am moving internationally and needed the item by the end of this week. I was told not to worry, that it was shipped by January 31. To find out now that the item was never available in the first place and was never even shipped (despite your message to the contrary which stated the item was shippped and you just didn't have a tracking number to give yet) after all of that communication is very frustrating as your customer.

As I am now reading the reviews for your store online, it is apparent I am not the only person that this has happened to. If I could trust that you could send me a new dining set in the next week, I would have been happy to order a different set. But as you have proven to be unreliable, I will not spend my money with your organization. A 10% refund is simply not adequate now that I have to scramble to find another patio set in a week.

On another note, the item you proposed I take in its place can't even ship out for 6-8 days, while you have other, less expensive options that could ship out earlier. I know you probably have a few disappointed customers that you must deal with, however you clearly proposed something to me that can't even meet my requirements, which was to arrive prior to my international move date. Clearly, whoever responded to me below didn't bother to read the notes from my prior conversations.

I have asked for a refund, and will be posting the note above online so others can learn from my mistake. The customer service agent I am speaking with me has only offered a bland apology and is blaming the manufacturer of the patio set rather than taking accountability. Blaming the manufacturer is, very simply, not taking ownership over your broken process.

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There Is No 110% Price Guarantee

By K - 05/20/2012

Rating: 1/51

NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- After I read their 110% price protection policy, I called them up to do the price match. I saw the same table selling in a different store for 199$. Mercantila is selling it for $887. The representative told me that there is no way they will do the price match since the price is so different. I told him that other sites are selling them for around 200$. He said he will not price match for the price I want since the price difference has to be within 10%. According to their policy, it did not state that way at all. This site is fraudulent. DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THEM!! THEY ARE NOT RELIABLE. This is their 110% protection policy:

"110% Guaranteed Price Match. Are you tired of settling for uninformed salespeople, poor customer service, and insufficient product information in your quest to find the best available price? You don't have to settle anymore. Our exclusive 110% Guaranteed Price Match ensures you the lowest delivered price with the highest standards of professional service.

Taking advantage of our 110% Guaranteed Price Match is easy: If you think you've found the same specialty product offered online at a lower delivered price, please call our Sales team at (866) 594-6890, Mon.-Fri. (6a-6p, PST) and Sat.-Sun. and holidays (6a-6p, PST), and say that you'd like to report a Price Match. We'll ask you for the competing store's name, website, and the exact location of the advertised item to verify the price and that the item is new, in stock, and includes the manufacturer's warranty.

Once we've verified the competitor's pricing, we will match the lower price, subtract 10% of the difference between prices, and process your order. If we offer a product for $1,000, and you find it for $900 somewhere else, you'll pay $890 with our 110% Guaranteed Price Match.

If you find a lower delivered price after you've purchased a specialty product from us, you'll still reap the benefits. We will honor our 110% Guaranteed Price Match for up to 30 days after your purchase by giving you an in-store credit for 110% of the difference in price.

Our 110% Guaranteed Price Match is valid when the named online competitor is an authorized dealer of the product and is selling a non-auction, new, in-stock, warranted item at or above the manufacturer's wholesale cost plus our standard order processing cost of 10%. Delivered price is calculated by adding the base item price plus shipping, handling, taxes and any other charges. This offer may not be used in combination with any other financing or promotional offers. The Sofa Superstore reserves the right to refuse any order or price match if the preceding terms are not met or cannot be verified."

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Pleasantly Surprised

By gagesmom - 10/23/2010

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA -- I went into my decision to purchase from this company with a great deal of trepidation and low expectations due to all the negative reviews I had read(on many sites). They definitely had the best price online for the furniture I wanted to purchase, but would it be worth the hassle I was told would ensue if I went ahead? I decided that having been in the furniture business myself at one time, I would give them the benefit of the doubt, talk to a representative via phone, and go from there.

Every time I called, I was treated courteously, my questions were answered directly and satisfactorily. Although I DO dislike all the "oh, yes, we can give you an extra discount today only, or because you live in such and such a state, etc." It all seems a bit silly now that consumers are so well-informed (just give me the bottom line--how much is it going to cost me, and just get on with it already) to be playing that game, but I DID get a great price.

I ended up ordering online rather than by phone, because I intended to pay via PayPal and evidently PayPal doesn't allow them to give additional discounts by phone, so the associate told me to Google coupons for the store online and I could use the code for the same discount. I did that, and it worked perfectly. I received 4 e-mails the same day acknowledging the order and giving me updates. I was told all my items (the loft bed, a desk chair, storage locker, and media console) would ship by October 21 with an expected delivery date of around October 25--my order was placed on October 13.

My next update said my order shipped on October 15 and I was given a tracking # to follow the progress (the company is called Ceva). My order arrived in town on October 18 and I was contacted by the shipping company on October 20. Delivery was scheduled for October 21--with a delivery window of between 10-2. At 1:45 the delivery truck pulled in my driveway. The deliverymen were very courteous and helpful. They were careful and professional in the way they brought in the boxes and placed them gently on sheets so that my wood floors would not be harmed and waited patiently while I opened 5 boxes to check for any immediately evident damage.

All pieces were fine with the exception of the desk chair, which was missing both instructions and parts. I e-mailed Mercantila customer support Sat., Oct. 23 asking if they could e-mail or fax me an instruction sheet and/or parts photos so I could tell them what needed replacement and received a reply several hours later saying that they would call Powell (the furniture manufacturer) on Monday, Oct. 25 and ask that they send a complete parts package to make sure nothing would be missed. The customer support associate said if they refused to do that, that they would go to plan B to make sure I was satisfied and got the parts needed.

Although my experience is not totally completed, I do feel that if I have been treated fairly (and more) so far, that I could go ahead and be comfortable leaving a positive review. Nothing in this life is guaranteed, so I can't say that any future dealings will be satisfactory, but I am very happy with this particular experience. I was told by one of the company reps that I spoke with that the company changed ownership not long ago, so perhaps this will bring about some needed improvements.

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Horrible Experience

By Judith - 07/21/2009

Hope this help someone. March 2009 I ordered a Curio cabinet after doing an online search. CuriocabinetStore.com is a sub-site for Mercantila, a quick search for complaints on the sub-site came up with nothing, there was no indication that it was actually Mercantila. My credit card was charged within 48 hours of placing my order & a confirmation email was sent within 72 hours, the email never mentioned Mercantila. It was only after 4 weeks, when I was emailed a tracking number that the name on the header of the email became the actual site I was dealing with.

Promised a delivery within 2 weeks, I called the number to check on the status of my shipment & learn that the shipping company had no record of my name, address, or tracking number. I called Mercantila, later I receive another email notification with a different shipping company & a new tracking number. At this point I was well past the 3-4 week delivery promised on the original site. Another 2 weeks slips past.

On the week promised I would be receiving my cabinet, I receive an email saying my cabinet has been shipped. I call up & get a delivery date, which passed, no cabinet. I called Mercantila who had no idea where my cabinet was. I called the shipping company; who said my cabinet was received damaged. I pressed for a description of the damage & was told the back mirror was shattered & that they sent my cabinet back to the supply warehouse, the shipper promised a maximum turn around of 10 days. My card was now charged in full and I paid for a cabinet over 8 weeks ago.

I finally had enough, I had my husband call Mercantila next. He got the same song & dance, they claimed that they had no record of the cabinet having been returned or damaged; they said we would receive another email after someone tracked my cabinet down. This is that email word for word:

"The carrier had damaged the glass / mirror on this item, it was simple enough to get repaired, but they are still currently working on proccurring the correct piece from the vendor (that had a few similar items damaged in the same way and had a repair session last night, but they did not receive the correct piece from the vendor to repair your item). They can't give me an exact ETA but we should have the issue resolved soon, I apologize for the delay and lack of communication, when first received notification that one piece was damaged and would be repaired we did not expect it to have taken this long."

I called my credit card, explaining it was almost 13 weeks & I have not received the cabinet or even an ETA for the damaged one. I disputed the charge & the card company gave us the credit back; we ordered a cabinet on another site. To pay for something & learn 3 months later that it was damaged & that a bunch of guys have a "repair night" doesn't sit well with me. Truthfully I wouldn't believe a word Mercantila says.

After canceling my order with Mercantila, they had the nerve to try to deliver my cabinet, making me refuse the item. My advice: make sure the site you are dealing with is not a 'store front" for Mercantila, make sure it is a BBB-backed company (note: Mercantila's site does not have the BBB seal). If you have placed an order with Mercantila, expect lengthy delays, a lack of customer support & misguided information.

Company Response 11/24/2009:

Hello,

My name is Kelly, a Customer Service Manager at Mercantila. I sincerely apologize for the experience that you have had with Mercantila. I know that you are frustrated and I wish that it could have been resolved in a more timely manner. We are making many changes to create an improved customer experience, including ensuring we ship all products on-time, respond to customer inquires within 24 hours, on-shoring our call center and providing them with tools and training to help customers such as yourself.

Regarding your order, I am very sorry that you have not gotten resolution on the damaged shipment. Unfortunately, I am unable to locate your order, so if you would please reply back to escalations@mercantila-inc.com I will personally ensure that your issues are resolved.

I hope that you will accept our sincerest apologies. We are doing everything possible to ensure that this does not happen again. We appreciate the feedback so we can address these issues and move forward.

Thank you,

Kelly

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Beware Mercantila.com -- Buy From Them At Your Own Risk!!

By Julia - 04/17/2008

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA -- Mercantila.com is a company full of CROOKS!! They sent me a damaged product, and now are ignoring all of my requests for a refund. I've got $600 tied up in this damaged product until I get my money back. I've had to go so far as to initiate a dispute on the charge with my credit card company. Here are some reviews of the company from Epinions.com: **. Here is the complaint I filed with the BBB - Filed against: Mercantila.com, 665 Chestnut St 3rd Fl., San Francisco, CA 94133-2362

Complaint Description: I ordered the Monterey platform bed from Mercantila sometime around March 10, 2008. I received the bed on 3/18, and immediately noticed that the bed was damaged. I contacted Mercantila that same day to let them know that my order was damaged. On 3/20, I was told to e-mail pictures of the damage to Mercantila, which I did. I then did not hear anything from the company until 3/27, despite several calls & e-mails to my customer service representative, **.

On 3/27, Summer indicated that the bed would be picked up on 3/28 or 3/31, and that she would e-mail me a bill of lading for the shipment. Come end of day 3/28, I had received no e-mail from **, and had received no indication that the bed would be picked up on 3/31. Therefore, I made a call at 4:30 p.m. on 3/28 to find out whether my pick-up would happen on 3/31.

As ** could not be located, my call was directed to another customer service rep, **. While ** was more helpful than **, she was unable to provide any sort of resolution. Her response was basically "so sorry, but it's now too late for pick-up to happen on 3/31." While I had ** on the phone, I asked her why ** does such a poor job of responding to calls & e-mails. ** replied that ** "is very busy." That was the best explanation she was able to give me. Is that supposed to make me feel better? I've had $600 tied up in a damaged bed for 4 weeks, but **'s "very busy."

Anyway, after failing to deliver on the 3/31 pick-up, ** basically dropped off the face of the earth. I have sent her at least 5 e-mails & voice mails since 3/31, to which I have received no response. I have also called the main line, only to be told that I need to work with **, as she is my assigned customer service rep. How can I work with someone who refuses to respond to me? While I think my experience with Mercantila is bad in and of itself, what is really worrying me is what I learned about Mercantila after I started having problems with them.

I did some research on the company online after ** quit responding to my requests, and as it turns out, this sort of run-around is pretty typical of Mercantila's dealings. Epinions is filled with pages of reviews written by bitter, angry ex-customers. There are many, many people who, like myself, have had an extremely hard time getting a refund out of the company. I think this borders on criminal behavior, as the company is essentially stealing from me at this point.

They are keeping my money against my will by refusing to acknowledge my repeated requests to return their damaged product. They surely do not deserve a rating of "satisfactory" from the BBB -- I was shocked to see that rating when I first logged onto BBB.com. Given what I saw on Epinions, I figured this company would be flagged as a bunch of crooks on the BBB website. The fact that they are not really surprises me.

I think the reason Mercantila has gotten away with this behavior for so long is that they are smooth when it comes to playing the "it's in the works" card. They continually tell people "we're working on it," or "you'll get that in a few days," or "we'll get back to you shortly, you have our word." These are all empty promises, and I know this from what I've read from other customers, as well as from my own experience with the company. Once you start looking at Epinions.com, it becomes clear that there is a pattern.

Mercantila plays the waiting game with customers, figuring that if they ignore someone long enough, eventually they'll give up and go away. It's completely unethical, and it borders on fraudulent. I have filed a dispute on the charge with my credit card company, so one way or another, I'm getting my money back. The only reason I took the time to write this complaint is because I think your rating should be changed for Mercantila. Consumers deserve to be warned about this company. ADDITIONAL DETAILS: Case is being handled by another organization: I've filed a credit card charge dispute.

Your Desired Resolution: I WANT MY MONEY BACK -- MERCANTILA IS ESSENTIALLY STEALING FROM ME BY REFUSING TO ACKNOWLEDGE MY REPEATED REQUESTS TO RETURN THIS BED. As a secondary concern, I want to get rid of this enormous, shoddy, damaged bed. It's taking up a ton of room in my apartment, and I don't even want it. However, I have no choice but to keep it until Mercantila gives me my money back. Insult to injury.

Company Response 11/24/2009:

Hello,

My name is Kelly, a Customer Service Manager at Mercantila. I sincerely apologize for the experience that you have had with Mercantila. I know that you are frustrated and I wish that it could have been resolved in a more timely manner. We are making many changes to create an improved customer experience, including ensuring we ship all products on-time, respond to customer inquires within 24 hours, on-shoring our call center and providing them with tools and training to help customers such as yourself.

Regarding your order, I am very sorry that you have not gotten resolution on the damaged shipment. Unfortunately, I am unable to locate your order, so if you would please reply back to escalations@mercantila-inc.com I will personally ensure that your issues are resolved.

I hope that you will accept our sincerest apologies. We are doing everything possible to ensure that this does not happen again. We appreciate the feedback so we can address these issues and move forward.

Thank you,

Kelly

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Con Artists

By Milan - 10/31/2012

Rating: 1/51

DEERFIELD, ILLINOIS -- Merchantila Inc. are criminals. They advertise on Amazon a dining table + 4 chairs + 1 bench as a set. I bought it. They shipped only the table. I called them. They said there is no word about any chairs. I requested return. They said on the phone and by the email, they will send me an email within 24 hours. After 48 hours, there is still no sign of RMA. I am contacting credit card company to try to recover my money. Pure criminals. Don't even think about buying from them.

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Company Is Lying to Consumers

By galaxy - 04/22/2010

I have worked for this company and know for a fact that they LIE to everyone that calls to order. The leaving of the warehouse times are completely "A LIE". If it says your item will leave out of the warehouse in 1 to 2 business days it's a "LIE" - you will either get your product in 6 to 8 weeks or "NEVER". Meanwhile your money is sitting in there account collecting interest and it will take at least a month if not longer to get back to your account.

I'm telling you this company is the worst company I have ever worked for. Just complete LIES to each and every customer who places an order! My suggestion is to order straight from the manufacturer, not a company that LIES to the consumers about having warehouses that their products ship out of. They have one warehouse not 200! And they order the items from the manufacturer, they don't have them in stock!If you value your money and don't want to hand it over to crooks, do not order EVER from this company!

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Charged Immediate 'In Stock' Product That Won't Ship For 92 Days. Attempted To Cancel 3 Times - Impossible To Get A Hold Of

By TammyM - 03/18/2010

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA -- When I placed my order online, it was in stock. My card was charged. A few days later I get an e-mail that ship date was changed to 92 days past my order date! There is no way to e-mail this company directly. When I attempted to use the 'e-mail customer service' function on their site, I get an error message and it does not go through. Every e-mail you get from them is a no-reply unmonitored address. They are definitely hiding from customers who they already took money from.

Customer service to PLACE AN ORDER answers immediately but wants nothing to do with you and tells you to go back in queue to wait for their reps that handle orders in process. I have spent an hour and 15 minutes on a few separate occasions waiting and no one picks. I called back to the order department and explained what was happening and was called 'hon' and received the 'I can't help you' attitude. I was told they do have reps in the other department but I do not believe them.

I asked to be directly connected and was told that was impossible. Have to wait in queue. I attempted to cancel my order THREE times online. The first time I got an e-mail response that my cancellation would be processed in 1-2 business days as long as it had not shipped (HELLO). Received zero communication. Attempted cancellation two more times with no response at all. My order is still out there and they have my money.

As far as I'm concerned, they stole my money for a product I will not even be in possession of for nearly three more months! I am beyond disgusted and can't believe they are allowed to get away with this. I WANT MY MONEY BACK NOW!!!

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I Was Concerned, But My Purchase Went Well

By LLames - 01/14/2010

After reading several bad reviews, I was concerned about buying anything from this company. However, after shopping for weeks at local "brick and mortar" stores, I went ahead with my online purchase because:
(1) online prices were better, even without considering sales tax; (2) for the China/curio cabinet that I was looking for, there was no advantage to seeing and touching the actual item at a "brick and mortar" store since I had to order from their catalogs anyway; (3) Mercantila's curiocabinet-store.com had the item that I was looking for;
(4) I'd get some level of protection from my credit card company.

ORDERING: The website stated that I could get delivery before Christmas, but it was not to be. I called the toll-free number to ask how much assembly was required, and was told the units came fully assembled, and the price included delivery inside my house. I placed my order with the person that I was speaking with and she gave me an additional $35 off. This was on on Dec 17, 2009.

TIMELINESS AND NOTIFICATIONS: I soon received an email to expect the item to be shipped out on January 27, 2010, over a month after the order was placed. My credit card was charged right away. I received email updates periodically, including the notification that the item had shipped from the warehouse. My order arrived at my house on January 13.

DELIVERY AND SETUP: The local delivery contractor actually opened both boxes (one for the buffet, the other for the hutch) for inspection and helped me set the unit up, way beyond the specified "inside delivery." That was very helpful since the total shipping weight was over 580 pounds, and it would have been difficult for just my wife and me to lift the heavier, glass-laden hutch on top of the buffet. Although the delivery contractor is not employed by Mercantila, what he did was part of my total purchase experience. I gave him a good tip; substantially less than the delivery charges that some of the "brick and mortar" stores would have charged me.

My wife is very happy with the beautiful China cabinet, and it's in perfect condition. Now, I'm just left with cleaning and disposing of the packing materials.